Absent Friends
by Bloodrayne666
Summary: Shadow and his family remember Maria on Christmas Eve


******Heya people! Hope you're all settled and ready for Christmas! It's my first Christmas with Shadowmjl and his family so I'm excited!**

**In the meantime, here's a little Christmas fic for you to enjoy! **

**Hope you like!**

**Absent Friends**

It was Christmas Eve in Mobotropolis, the snow fell heavily covering all the buildings in a thick white blanket of sparkling snow. The sun had just set and it was dark, the only lights left were the Christmas Lights and the Street lights in the city and the lights that were on in the buildings.

In a large house in the city centre, just above Club Rouge, was a large apartment. In a large living room on the large leather sofa in front of a large fireplace, sat Shadow the Hedgehog. Next to the Fire stood a large Christmas tree with sparkling decorations and lights and loads of presents were stacked underneath it all different shapes and sizes and wrapped in different kinds of wrapping paper.

Shadow sat on the sofa dressed in a red and black dressing gown and looking above the fireplace at a small picture that sat on the mantelpiece amongst the decorations that sat there. It was a delicately framed picture, a silver frame that held a black and white photo of a blonde haired girl no older than twelve smiling at the camera.

The picture was of a girl, Maria Robotnik, a girl who had meant a lot to Shadow before her tragic death, even though it was a long time ago since she was tragically killed, it still brought tears to his eyes every time he remembered. Things had changed over the years; he had been on many adventures and had escaped death many times, now he had a new life and a happy one.

He was now married to Rouge the Bat, his long life friend and partner, and owner of Club Rouge. They had been married for nearly six years and they had a son Angelous who they both loved with all their hearts, even though his life was happy he never forgot Maria and how much he cared for her.

As he stared at her picture he took a sip of brandy he had in his hand, he then looked at the fire and watched as the flames danced on the logs, giving off comforting warmth. He looked up at the picture; next to the picture was a white candle. On certain occasions he would light the candle that stood next to the picture to honour Maria's memory.

The occasions were often at Christmas, his birthday and Maria's birthday, he always felt comforted when he lit the candle, he never wanted to forget Maria, never, after all she had done in life to him, giving him comfort and friendship. He looked at the clock, it was after eight and Rouge was giving Angelous his bath, he thought they would be done soon and they would come into the living room and do the ritual with him.

After about ten minutes, Rouge the Bat came into the living room with Angelous, he was a small back hedgehog of six years old, he looked just like his father except he did not have red stripes on his quills and his eyes were aqua coloured like Rouge's.

"Hey dad!" squeaked the little hedgehog walking over to Shadow, Shadow smiled softly and knelt down to Angelous's level before hugging him close. Rouge also walked over and smiled. Shadow then stood up again and smiled at how cute Angelous looked in his red pyjamas.

Shadow then hugged Rouge close and nuzzled her nose, "hey babe" he said, Rouge smiled and kissed his nose making him giggle. "You ready to begin?" she asked. "Yeah" said Shadow, looking over to the picture of Maria. Angelous looked up at his parents, his eyes twinkled in firelight.

"Are we going to light Angel Maria's candle?" he asked. He called Maria Angel Maria because Shadow had said Maria was an Angel in Heaven. He had told Angelous all about Maria, about who she was and how much she meant to him. "We sure are" said Shadow. He took Angelous's hand and Rouge took his other hand and they stood before the mantel piece. After a minute of silence, Shadow took a long match and put it in the fire to light it.

As soon as he did, he looked down at Angel, "do you want to light Maria's candle?" he asked. Angelous looked happy "please dad" he said with a grin. Shadow smiled and gave Angelous the match. He then picked up Angel, lifting him up by the armpits so he was level with the mantelpiece.

Angel then reached out his arm and lit the candle; he then pulled the match to his mouth and blew out the candle. "Well done champ" said Shadow. He then placed Angel on the floor and patted him on the head. They then joined hands and looked at Maria's photo in silence.

As they looked at the picture, Shadow thought back to the days when Maria was alive and how they spent time together on the Space Colony Ark. How they had talked, and how they had planned to go to earth together, but all those dreams were taken away when GUN invaded the ARK.

As he remembered Maria's last moments he bit his lip as the tears stung his eyes, as he did, he squeezed Angelous's hand a little tighter. Angelous yelped a little as he did. "Sorry" whispered Shadow. Rouge looked at Shadow and gave him a sympathetic smile. Shadow looked at her and smiled back.

Later, Shadow and Rouge stood in Angelous's room as Angelous climbed into bed and pulled himself under the covers, Rouge then came over to give him a kiss and a hug. "Exciting day tomorrow eh?" she smiled as she kissed Angelous on the forehead.

Angelous nodded excitedly; "yeah!" he said "I can't wait to go to Sonic and Amy's house tomorrow!" Shadow smiled but in his head he wondered how Sonic and Amy were coping with putting their two boisterous twins to bed. Well their daughter was not much of a problem; it was their son Flash who was the really energetic one. He was like his dad, always bouncing around and not wanting to sit still.

Shadow giggled a little in his head, as he remembered a couple of days ago he had taken Angelous to the park to meet with Amethyst and Flash and Sonic was looking after them. Flash was getting really hyper and would not stop talking about Christmas. "I don't know how they do it" he thought "he really is a handful that Flash"

He then looked at Angelous who was curling up under the covers, he looked so cute under his red bed covers looking up at him and Rouge. Shadow then arranged Angelous's stocking on the end of his bed then walked over and sat on his bed. "You gonna sleep well tonight champ?" he asked.

Angelous nodded, "well I hope so" he whispered as he relaxed back, Shadow smiled "well" he said "you get some sleep, it's gonna be a fun day tomorrow" Angelous grinned "ok dad" he said "I'll go to sleep, I can't wait to see Sonic, Amy, Flash and Amethyst tomorrow" "Well, you will soon enough" smiled Rouge.

Shadow stood up from the bed, "only a few hours champ" he said, "sleep well" "night dad" said Angelous, "goodnight sweetheart" said Rouge walking to the door with Shadow "Goodnight mum" said Angelous "Sleep tight kiddo" said Shadow. He then turned off the light and walked out of the room.

As soon as they were outside the bedroom, Rouge wrapped her arms around Shadow "you ok Shadow?" she asked, Shadow nodded, "I'm fine" he said, "I feel really happy" Rouge smiled then they walked into their own room.

As they got ready to settle for the evening, Shadow felt his spirits rise. Even though Maria was no longer in his life, he still had the happy memories, and nothing could take those away, and he had a happy new life, he knew he would always love Maria, and never forget her, and as long as he kept her memory alive, she would still be right beside him. Still feeling happy he walked into the bedroom with Rouge to settle before Christmas Day dawned.

**The End**

**I had always wanted to write a one-shot with Shadow remembering Maria, and I finally got round to it and it time for Christmas! Hope you liked it!**

**Merry Christmas to Everyone on Fanfiction and a Happy New Year!**

**See you again in 2012!**

**Love Bloodrayne666**


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